Reverie
by cecilia.clare
Summary: He had not always been cold-hearted, not the way she remembered him anyway. He used to be a kind loving father until something changed and he shut everyone out.


**AN: Again read "The New Kid",just for character info **

Katherine Plumber, daughter of Pulitzer, a reporter for the New York Sun. The big thing everyone seemed to focus on was the Pulitzer part. Pulitzer wasn't the greatest father ever. He loved his work, but he never made time for his daughter, after her mother died anyway. Katherine's father buried himself in his work, leaving young Katherine lonely. Until the strike happened, she had decided that she was going to make a difference, and write a real story. Then she met her family, a real family, her newsie family. Where she had met Jack, she finally felt like she belonged somewhere. She strolled down the street towards the New York Sun. She got to the door and smoothed her dress before walking in the door. She walked through the door, and then she walked over to her desk. A man walked over to her desk as she began to go through some of her research on a recent story.

"Good morning Mr. Murphy."

"Plumber how's the story on the riot in Brooklyn coming."

"It's going well, I should have it done by the end of the week."

"Plumber, how do you get all these insides?"

"Well, Mr. Murphy lets just say I have some helpful friends on the inside."

"Well tell your friends we appreciate the help."

"I will Mr. Murphy." Mr. Murphy walked away, as Katherine continued to rifle through papers on her desk.

"Now would be a good time to go visit Spot, he's got people for this," Katherine muttered to herself. She stuck a note pad in her pocket and stuck a pencil behind her ear.

"Mr. Murphy, I'm going out, I need more for my story."

"Alright Plumber, make sure this trip is worthwhile!"

"I can assure you of that Mr. Murphy." She dashed out the door to Newsies Square. She looked around the square to see she wasn't too late. She ran over to Race and Blu.

"You guys feel like taking a day off?" Blu and Race looked to each other and grinned,

"What did ya have in mind?" asked Race popping his cigar back in his mouth.

"Well have you guys heard about the crazy riots that have been happening in Brooklyn?" both nodded their heads.

"Well I know you both have a connection to Spot, and other newsies in the Brooklyn ranks so,"

"Let me guess, we are going on a field day?" Katherine smiled and said,

"Well, aren't you smarter than you look?" Race smirked,

"Well if I'm giving up a day's pay this better be good."

"Trust me Race, a day with my brother, it's bound to be good!"

"So are you guys in?"

"Does a newsie hawk papes?" asked Race,

"I'll take that as a yes," said Katherine.

"Just one sec, I'm gonna tell Davey I'm going with you. Wouldn't be unlike my other brother to start freaking out if I left without telling him." Blu limped over toward Davey to go tell him she was leaving.

"Do you think she'll be able to make the trip all the way to Brooklyn?"

"She's a Conlon, she'll be fine, and Blu isn't that big, I can always carry her if she gets tired." Katherine nodded as Blu came back.

"Alright, it's a long walk to Brooklyn, let's get going!" Katherine followed after Blu and Race. She was a little worried, before she and her father had moved to Manhattan, they had lived in Brooklyn. Katherine had certainly not had a picture-perfect childhood. She and her father moved to Manhattan after her mother died, then her father had opened the World. The rest was history. In about an hour or two they had all made it to the Brooklyn bridge. By now Blu was exhausted, her leg wasn't fully healed, and she was still using her crutch.

"Alright Blu, give Katherine the crutch."

"Why Race, I need this to walk."

"You have been walking for almost two hours, now give the crutch to Katherine."

"What are ya gonna do carry me?"

"Actually that's exactly what I'm gonna do."

"Race you're not gonna carry me, I'm fine."

"You're a Conlon, you're short…" Blu looked like she was about to give Race a black eye.

"No offense, I'll be able to carry you just fine, now do what I say and give the crutch to Katherine." Blu finally gave in and handed over her crutch to Katherine. Blu jumped on his back and off they went. Blu and Race pointed out famous buildings and places they used to hang out. After about another hour, they had made it to the abandoned building where all the Brooklyn newsies stayed.

"Alright, Race put me down." Blu slid off of Race's back and onto the ground, she put her hand on Race's shoulder to steady herself as Katherine handed her the crutch. She tucked it under her arm.

"Spot!" she yelled for her brother.

"Blu? Is that you?"

"Yeah it is, I'm here with Race and Katherine." Spot jumped down from his hiding place.

"Blu, I'm really glad you're here." He came over and embraced her in a hug.

"As glad I am that you're here, I have a feeling you need something."

"Not me, her." She motioned toward Katherine who gave a small wave. To be honest, Spot scared her a little. She tried not to let that show. Spot came over to her, he stuck out his hand for her to shake. She took his hand and shook it, seeing Spot around his sister, was a lot different of a Spot than the one from the rally.

"You look really familiar like I've seen ya somewhere before."

"She's the reporter that covered the strike." Katherine smiled,

"Well, Mr. Conlon,"

"Just call me Spot, I don't like all that formal business."

"Ok Spot, I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about the recent riots that have been happening around Brooklyn."

"Well, I can try to help as best as I can." Katherine pulled her notebook out of her pocket, she grabbed the pencil behind her ear.

"Ok, so have any of the riots involved any of the Brooklyn newsies?"

"No, we have not had any part of this, at least not that I know of."

"What have the riots been about?"

"They have been about the ILGWU, the women are striking." Katherine scribbled down in her notebook.

"One last question, who else here in Brooklyn can I go talk to?"

"I do know someone, her name is Eleanor, but everyone calls her Ellie. She used to be our leader before she asked me to take over. She is a part of that union now after she left the newsie business."

"Thank you so much Spot, this really helps a lot." Katherine and Race began to leave but saw Blu wasn't following.

"Come on Blu, we gotta go," said Race,

"I think I'll stay here for a while." She limped over and put an arm around her older brother.

"Well alright, we'll be back around before sunset to come to get ya."

"Ok, I'll see ya later." Katherine and Race walked out of the building into the bright New York sunlight. Katherine followed as Race led her down the winding streets of Brooklyn. They finally made it to a huge crowd of yelling women, she stumbled after Race as he nimbly climbed up the fire escape. He met her at the top of the building, where they looked down on the upon the crowd of yelling women.

"Yeesh, I haven't seen anyone this mad since they upped the newsie price, and then Jack found out about it."

"I don't think I have seen anyone this mad since my father found out I was helping you guys." Katherine paused,

Little Katherine waddle into the room holding a piece of paper. She kept walking over until she tugged on her father's pants. She placed her paper proudly on her father's lap. Her father pulled her into his lap, he placed the paper in front of him so they could both see it. She said,

"Look, I made a paper. Just like you daddy!" Her father smiled proudly at her,

"So sweetie, what are the headlines today." She pointed at the scribbling at the top.

"There is the best daddy award that got announced. You won!" Pulitzer smiled down at his daughter, he wrapped her in a tight hug.

"How on earth did I win such a prestigious award?"

"Because you give the best hugs daddy." He picked up Katherine into his arms and stood up from his chair. He spun her around the room, Katherine giggled in her father's arms. They both danced around their living room, so happy just to be with each other.

"Katherine. Earth to Kat! Hello is anybody in there?" Katherine shook her head and looked to see Race was over at the fire escape,

"Come on the rallies over, we gotta go find Ellie."

"Right, sorry Race." Katherine followed after Race where they searched the crowd until Race stopped,

"Are you Eleanor?" A girl in a dingy brown dress that flaunted her old red newsies suspenders turned around to face them. She was extremely tan from the hot Brooklyn sun. Her amber eyes sparkled in the sunlight. She had her ebony hair in a tight bun on top of her head.

"Who wants to know?"

"That's why we are asking, so are you her or not."

"Call me Ellie."

"Great Ellie, well I'm Race, and this is Katherine and she is working on a story, and wanted to ask you a few questions."

"Make it quick I got places to be."

"Ms. Ellie, I wanted to know what are you women striking for?"

"We are strikin' for wages, work hours, and for safety while we work."

"How long do you think you will strike for?"

"Till we get what we want." Katherine scribbled down in her notebook, kind of annoyed with the short curt answers.

"Thank you so much, Ms. Ellie, this really helps." Ellie nodded her head and walked off in the other direction. Katherine watched as she walked away,

Katherine's father laid her in her bed. He began to walk out of the room after telling her goodnight.

"Daddy, I don't want you to leave." Her father turned around to see Katherine sitting up in her bed.

"I'm not going anywhere, I'm just going to sit in my chair in the living room."

"I don't want to be by myself daddy!"

"You are never alone, I'm always right here even when you can't see me." Katherine smiled and laid back down in her bed.

"Do you have enough for your story? Katherine?"

"Yeah, sorry must have lost track of my train of thought. I thought while we were here you could show me around? I haven't been here since I was really little."

"I can show you everything that is worth lookin' at!" Katherine smiled and followed Race.

"First stop on the Racetrack tours, Brooklyn's botanical gardens." He smiled as he led her through the rows of cherry trees in full bloom. She couldn't even speak, she was overwhelmed by the beauty of the gardens. Katherine had been to a place like before.

Katherine stood next to her father, they were standing a garden in full bloom. She grabbed her father's hand, they stood in front of a big gray stone. She looked up to see her father crying. She tugged at her father's suit.

"Daddy, why are you crying?" He wiped the tears off his face,

"I'm ok Katherine, I just miss mommy that's all."

"I miss mommy too." Katherine's father pulled her into his arms. They just stood there, Katherine in his arms.

"I didn't think you would like it this much." Katherine snapped back to reality, feeling her face was wet with tears. She hurriedly wiped the tears from her face.

"Yeah, it's a really beautiful Race."

"Katherine, are you ok? You keep going in and out on me."

"I'm fine really, just my head's in a different place today I guess."

"It's ok, my head is usually always somewhere else too!" Katherine laughed and smiled,

"Shall we continue?"

"Of course, next stop on the Race tour Brooklyn Bridge Park!" Katherine and Race walked through the winding streets. Katherine stopped in front of an old building, there were people walking in and out, and you could hear the sound of typewriters inside. The building had a big sign that read the New York Gazette.

Katherine had been following her father to where he worked. She was about seven. She was just trying to spend more time with him. Katherine watched from behind a building, she quietly crept in behind her father before the door closed.

"Dad!" Pulitzer nearly jumped out of his seat.

"Katherine! What in the world are you doing here!"

"I came to spend time with you! You say you are too busy to spend time with me because of work. So I decided to hang out with you while you worked!" Katherine smiled at her father proudly, she was so excited that her plan had worked. Pulitzer put his head in his hands.

"Katherine, you need to go home. I have to work."

"But you never spend time with me anymore."

"Well, I have to work." Katherine disappointedly looked down at the floor. She walked over to her father and gave him a hug.

"I love you, dad."

"I love you too Katherine." Katherine walked out of the door and back to her house.

"Katherine, Kat." She could see Race was waving his hand in front of her face.

"We gotta keep going, we're almost there." She nodded her head, she took one more look at the place where her father used to work then followed after Race. They made it to the park. The two of them strolled through the park and looked at all the statues. Katherine ran over to see a specific statue. It was a statue was of Horace Greeley. She looked up at the old statue.

As Katherine walked back from her visit with her father, she came upon a statue. One of Horace Greeley. Her dad had taught her about him, she plopped down in front of the statue and pulled out a notebook and started writing. Pulitzer walked out of his office on his way back home. He saw something sitting up against the statue, as he got closer he saw it was Katherine. He ran towards the statue,

"Katherine! What are you doing here! I told you to go home hours ago."

"I wrote a story, just like you do at work dad!" She offered her notebook up to her father. He grabbed it out of her hands and stuffed it in his pocket. He took her hand and led her home.

Katherine continued to stare up and the statue,

"Hey, I have one more place we can stop!"

"Lead the way Race." Katherine lingered at the statue before following after Race.

"So where are we going?"

"It's a surprise!" Race got a big goofy grin on his face, before dashing off towards their next destination. Katherine ran after Race,

"Wait up! I'm in a dress!" laughed as she kept running. As they both stopped after a while breathing heavily. They continued to walk in the glow of the warm, afternoon Brooklyn sun. Katherine stopped in front of a house. It was a brick house, that had a porch with iron railing. There was a stained glass window above the red door. She just stared, Race realized she wasn't following him anymore.

"Katherine, are you coming?" Katherine just stared at the house and didn't say anything. Race walked over to Katherine,

"Katherine, you've been off all day. What's wrong?"

"I was just thinking about my father, and how much he changed. He didn't like it at all when I was helping you guys. We used to be really close."

"Well, this sounds like more of a conversation to be having with your father." Katherine nodded,

"Well, should we go get Blu now?"

"Yeah, I guess we should go now." The two of them walked back to the Brooklyn newsies house.

"Blu! We are here, we gotta go the sun is setting soon." Blu and Spot walked out towards Katherine and Race.

"Well alright, Bye Spot." The brother and sister pair hugged before she walked over to Race and Katherine. The three of them walked out together, Katherine lingered behind to take one last look at her childhood home.

"You aren't gonna carry me on the way back."

"Oh yes I am, if Davey finds out I let you keep walking for a couple hours he's gonna kill me."

"Trust me Davey won't say anything, not while I'm around anyway."

"Then you better stick to my side like glue." Race elbowed Blu, and she elbowed back.

"Hey, Katherine are you coming?" She nodded and caught up to the pair. The three of them walked back toward Manhattan.

"I don't care what you say after we cross the bridge your handing over the crutch."

"Fine, anyway it's a nice view from higher up."

"Guess you can't get that view very often," Race joked,

"I'm sorry, don't kill me." Blu smiled,

"Never little bro." After an hour they had crossed the bridge, Blu handed over her crutch to Katherine and hopped onto Race's back. Race carried her back until they were about a block away.

"Ok, Race put me down, can't have you ruining my rep." Race set Blu down where she took her crutch from Katherine's hand. The three of them walked into Newsies Square,

"Blu! You're back!" Davey and Les ran over and smothered Blu in a hug.

"Guys.. you're suffocating me!"

"Oh sorry," both Davey and Les let go, and Davey wrapped his arm around his little sister.

"So how was your visit?"

"Quite uneventful actually." Katherine walked out of the square,

"Katherine, are you going to go talk to your father?"

"Yeah, I think I am, Race, thanks for everything today." Race smiled,

"It's no problem, I had a lot of fun." Race walked back into the square and Katherine walked home. She walked into the door, she saw her father sitting in a chair, reading the newspaper.

"Hey dad, I was wondering if we could talk."

"About what Katherine?"

"About you and me. I wanted to know why you got so distant. Why you stopped loving me. Did I do something wrong?" Pulitzer looked up from his paper, over to Katherine. He pulled over another chair in front of him and motioned to sit down.

"Why do you think that I stopped loving you?"

"You were always working, and never made any time for me. I thought I did something wrong, something to make you angry." Pulitzer took a deep breath,

"You never did anything wrong, it was me. Everything was about me. After your mother died," he paused,

"I'm so sorry Katherine."

"It's ok dad, we can start again now." Pulitzer smiled and wrapped her in a hug. The two of them sat there both beginning again. Father with his daughter, and a daughter who got her father back.


End file.
